Nicolas Cage and the Big Bad Wolf

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that some of the wealthiest Americans are losing their homes to foreclosures.

Robert Fuscone, a former bigwig with Merrill Lynch, was about to see his 18,471 square foot mansion in Westchester, NY go up for auction  but declared personal bankruptcy to delay the action.

Some others weren't so lucky--like Nicholas Cage.

Cage blames his monetary troubles on his former money manager and is suing him for 20 million, but insiders say the actor was a prolific spender, even by Hollywood standards.

I don't know.   What do you think?

According to The Daily Beast.com, Cage's spending spree lasted more than a decade. Here's a brief review:

Two dozen houses, two Bahamian islands, motorcycles, jets, yachts, vintage and new cars, expensive watches, dinosaur skulls, shrunken heads, the shah of Iran’s Lamborghini, meteorites—yep, you read that right—an enormous pet collection, massive amounts of jewelry for the women in his life, group vacations for his entire entourage, and so on.

Last week Cage defaulted on his 35 million Bel Air mansion, and it was returned to the lender.   His two mansions in New Orleans have been foreclosed upon and will be auctioned off later this month.

In February alone 352 mansions owned by the super rich across the country went back to the bank, compared to 1,312 for all of 2009. At a rate of 14%, the upper stratosphere are more likely to default than ordinary people, who lose their homes at a rate of about 8%.

Anyone ready to pull out their violins for a sympathy fiddle?

Christ, how do we even relate?

We look at our own checkbooks and wonder why Cage didn't add up the numbers, figure tight times, or for once develop severe writer's block.   Couldn't he have stopped at a fifteen houses, one island, and a dozen less diamonds?

Did it make him happier or just more determined to keep collecting until he topped out his fortune into the clouds?

By the way, how much is a square foot of heaven?

And what is it about HAVING IT ALL when no one can possibly come close to reaching the goal?

I laugh uncomfortably.

Of course, it's schadenfreude, taking pleasure from the misfortune of others, yet maybe for a moment, we should glance at ourselves.

I just had someone out the other day trying to design me more closet space ‘cause I suddenly got too much stuff and too few inches to fit everything under cover.

While the woman talked, I wondered how I acquired all this crap and why I needed it in the first place.  Why not save a few bucks and just clean it all out?

Yes, I’ll do it!  My brain fart!  I developed a plan!

As soon as she left, I entered the "bad" closet, armed with excitement, high on motivation.

But then I stopped. 

Reality smacked me in the head.  Hey, that's a lot of work, and I only own ONE house, no islands, and when was the last time anyone saw me nosing around for shrunken skulls?

Besides, who doesn't need a few extra shelves behind closed doors?   It would make things look neater, more organized, and I could still discard the junk I don't wear--someday--and go out looking for more.

THAT settled, I heated a bag of microwave popcorn, slipped in the new DVD, and grabbed a cushy seat in the family room.

Couldn't wait to see the award-winning documentary about an over indulgent Hollywood star who went broke from overspending and lived out the rest of his days hiding from the public in a rented bungalow in Illinois.

Everyone says it played great in Peoria.